You've been my sun in my world of darkness Naruhina
by TheShadowGrrl
Summary: AU Hinata is the daughter of an abusive Clan Leader and must learn to get by in her dark and dreary world. Failing to master martial arts is not acceptable in the Hyuuga family. But when she finds her sunlight in the form of a rambunctious young loudmouth, what is to become of her? Naruhina, slight Sasusaku Nejiten Shikaino and other pairings that will make fleeting cameos. ONGOING
1. Chapter 1

Hello! First ever fanfiction, and it is Naruhina! Yay! AU, takes place when the kiddies are right around 14 or 15. They live in a modern-ish day city/large town. Yes I have altered some relations, mostly cause I love certain characters too much to make them bad guys. Yeah. Please comment to tell me what you think!

My name is Hinata Hyuuga, and I officially hate my life.

Yes, I suppose I should be grateful, and in many ways I am. I have a roof over my head, I have food every day, and I have enough money to attend a lovely school here in the village of Konoha, simply referred to as the Academy. But in many ways, I suppose all those mean little compared to what I face every day, yes I have a roof over my head, but it's what's under the roof that makes the whole thing in the first place seem insignificant. I apologize, let me just start from the beginning.

My father is one of 3 children, all boys, and his two younger siblings are twins; my uncles Hiashi and Hizashi. Both are lovely people, and they each have a wonderful child; my older cousin Neji of Hizashi and my younger cousin Hanabi of Hiashi. Neither of them like me very much, I figure they are jealous. Oh don't get me wrong, they aren't jealous of _me _necessarily, (believe me, there is very little there to be jealous of), it is of my birthright. Because I am the child of the oldest child of the 3 Hyuuga Clan leaders, I have special privileges in town. Mostly social privileges such as respect and such, no financial privileges or the like. I find this little bit very insignificant, however they both seem to dislike me for it. Though there is another reason why.

The Hyuuga Clan is known among the residents of our town and others as masters of martial arts, there is not one form of Karate or branch of Tai-Chi that the Hyuugas are not masters of. I as the daughter of the Head of the Clan am expected to live up to the expectations of generations of nimble and quick-footed martial artists...however...

I found out at the age of 13 that the reason I failed so horribly at my lessons was because I had two left feet. Namely, I couldn't perform more than some of the moderately complex before I started tripping or messing up the techniques. To be honest the results looked pretty graceful-what is considered having two left feet in the Hyuuga Clan could be compared to being a fairly skilled ballerina. But the techniques and efficiency of each move were nullified despite my grace. One may think-oh it's no big deal, so one daughter of the Hyuuga Clan cannot master martial arts, right? Wrong. _One does not simply _**not **master martial arts in the Hyuuga Clan. It is our pride, what makes us stand out as the Hyuuga Clan, and for the daughter to not be able to master these skills could very well be considered a scandal to some people.

My father was one of those people.

My father was one of those people that the rest of the family tries to keep secret from the world.

My father was one of those people that can't deal with their anger, and just need to punch something.

I was one of those people.

I was one of those people that needed to be punched so my father could deal with his anger.

I was one of those people that cause all his problems, and so should reap the benefits of my failure.

As a Hyuuga, as the daughter of the head of the Hyuuga Clan, as my father's daughter.

I am a failure. And my father makes a point to remind me every day. My father is a violent idiot, if it werent for my uncles, our company would have fallen apart. They think he's just incompetant, they have no idea what he really does with his free time. With the time he uses to beat his daughter enough times to get all his frustration out.

So many times I've wanted to die, to welcome the sweet black that would be my escape. But I can't, I'm too scared, too weak, I want to live, I want to feel the breeze on my face when I walk out my door for school, I want to touch the grass and smell the trees when our class is let out for lunch break. I want to be alive. Perhaps I am too weak. But when my father has been particularly harsh, or the kids in school make fun of my eyes, or the teachers decide to ask me all the hard questions, or when all of the above happens; I would spend my time alone or in pain planning my own death. I wanted to just make it all go away, to end the pain, once and for all.

But then I found my sun. My sun had bright yellow hair, he had eyes that flashed the bright days of the sky, he had a smile that lit up the room more surely than his hair. He was perfect, he was kind, he was bright, he was my light in a world of darkness.

He was Naruto Uzumaki, my sun was a boy named Naruto Uzumaki, and I was utterly and hopelessly in love with him.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again my lovely readers! (if any, but I know there are some of you out there!)

So anyway, yaaaay another chapter! But this one is kinda sad ;_; but the category IS "angst" so what would you expect? Now before I thank all you wonderful people who have reviewed and followed, I feel you deserve a little more details about the universe in which this is taking place:

*In this world there are no ninja, but clans are still acknowledged and being in one clan or another can drastically affect people's first impressions of you

*All the characters are the age of and look like their Shippuden versions, however as you will read, I gave Hinata short hair. This was done for a couple reasons, mostly being that I picture this Hinata as a much more shy and quiet person than her Shippuden counterpart, so I felt I could only imagine her as retaining the appearance of the shyer Hinata we all saw in Part 1. I just couldn't imagine the Hinata with long hair having the traits of the major inferiority-complex she is written as seeming to have here, so yeah. BUT SHE IS THE SHIPPUDEN AGE-JUST WITH SHORT HAIR.

*The Hyuuga clan is like-if you have ever seen Ouran Host Club-Honey-sempai's family in that their whole business and all their money is pretty much derived from martial arts, but the Hyuugas do quite a bit of financing and land ownership stuff on the side.

That is pretty much it, any more questions will be addressed if you leave a comment-review. Dang this is so different from DA/Youtube ._.

NOW FOR THE THANK-YOUS, BEING THE FIRST PEOPLE TO REVIEW MY FIRST EVER STORY DESERVES TO HAVE THEIR NAME ON DISPLAY 8D lol I'm way to exuberant:

**Midnight-The Angel of Darkness:** :D thank you! I'm glad it captured your attention :)

**narutofreak23: **Thank you also 8D I will definitely be updating as quickly as possible-plus I have the basic storyline all set out, so there won't be too many hiatuses that stretch for any length of time :D

_YOU ARE BOTH SO WONDERFUL FOR REVIEWING 3_But honestly thank you for the reading as well all you 80ish invisible readers you 8D

* * *

Left, right, left, right, up, down, roundhouse kick, duck, uppercut, jab, left, right, jab, duck, trip, fall-wait what?

With a small squeak, I tumbled to the ground as a result of my left foot hooking around my right heel. I lay there for a second, catching my breath as my brain processed what just happened; I was in the middle of sparring with my father, and I had allowed my two left feet to render me vulnerable in battle...oh no.

I heard a low growl emanate from the presence above me, and with a squeamish expression, raised my lowered head to look at my father. He looked most displeased, I had been doing so well to keep out of his way today, but it seemed as though all my efforts would be in vain. With little effort on the part of the 6'5'' 350 pound behemoth, I was hoisted up into the air by the scruff of my training shirt and found myself looking straight into the angry pale eyes of my father. Words could not express the dread I felt imagining what sort of punishment would await me in the very near future, but it would seem as though someone up there was looking out for me, as at that moment my younger cousin Hanabi pulled the wooden and paper door of the dojo to the side. Fixing my hanging form with a decisive glare, my little-and-much-more-agile cousin bowed low to the seemingly calm man in the room.

"Forgive the interruption, Uncle, but my father has requested your presence for discussion."

Seemingly very irked, the man still holding me above the ground asked what it was Hiashi wanted to have addressed.

"He didn't say, Uncle." Hanabi politely replied, still in a low bow.

Father paused for a moment, grunting in frustration before replying "Very well, thank you Hanabi. You are dismissed." And with that, the slight form of my younger cousin was out the door with a sharp _slam._

Not seconds after her departure did I find myself being flung down onto the ground, though I managed to prevent the squeak of surprise and fear to escape my lips. I turned up and saw my father casting a death glare towards me, and without another word he turned and left the dojo. However he took a moment at the threshold to address me again,

"Hinata, be sure to cover those bruises today, we wouldn't want anyone at your school asking any questions, now would we?" He said in the most calm of voices, but the menacing underlying tone made my heart beat erratically in fear.

"O-of c-course fa-father," Dang this stutter of mine, I normally never let it happen when I talk-though talking is something I rarely do to begin with. Whenever I'm nervous or afraid, my voice just hitches in my throat and the uncomfortable beating in my chest makes my throat feel all clogged up. I just can't help it when the final result is a mashed up pattern of half-formed words and phrases. My father is, as could be expected, rarely if ever sympathetic of that fact.

"And quit it with that damn stutter, got it?" He lashed out at me harshly.

"Y-yes sir." I replied, unable to keep the tremble in my voice completely inaudible.

My inability to follow his latest order seemed to have set him in an even worse mood, and I shut my eyes in preparation for a lapse in his seemingly-willing to forgive nature today. However I simply heard him slam the door behind him as he went to wherever it was the clan leaders went to talk about important matters. I heaved a sigh of relief as I shakily got up from the floor. A quick glance at my partially-exposed forearms told me that the bruises from yesterday's beating had not completely vanished, though they were past the sickly-black-and-blue phase and were now fading into a dull purple. Sighing at the prospect of covering these with my all-too revealing school uniform, I dashed quickly from the dojo and sprinted across the courtyard and into my room. Glancing quickly at my bedside digital clock, I saw it was now 6:55, leaving me with about a half hour to get ready before I left for a quick 10-minute jog to school, as classes started promptly at 7:40.

* * *

Stepping out of the steamy shower, I took a fluffy white towel from a hanger and used it to quickly dry myself off while a smaller towel was used to hurriedly wipe the dampness out of my short hair. After quickly brushing my drying hair, I donned the black/grey mini skirt that reached below my mid-thigh. It had a red line running around the skirt an inch away from the edge, and my white ankle socks came on shortly afterwards. I put on my white tank top, and stopped to stare in the mirror at what I had become accustomed to as my face-and as usual, I was disappointed with what I saw.

My navy hair was cut into a bob with bangs, and my face was framed with two chin-length locks, and as always the face they were framing was set into a displeased frown. I have never considered myself as anything resembling beautiful, and the years of raging teenage hormones and insecurities did little to help.

My gaze fell to my arms, and I found that the white dojo uniform I had been wearing earlier had revealed only a fraction of the blossoming bruises that decorated my pale-skinned arms in a gruesome purple and blue display. They ran all the way up my arms, and through the thin material of my tank top more of the same could be seen spread out along my torso, though my legs were-thankfully-fairly unscathed. It was times like this that I was thankful for two things in my life-the fact that our long-sleeved winter-uniform-shirts were still in use, and that I had been blessed with skin that bruises easily. If not for the fact that any abuse would be plainly displayed upon my skin, my father would have on many occasions gone even rougher than he had on me. Winter and fall were the absolute worst seasons, as my uniform covered enough of me that no one would notice my injuries. During the spring semester he had to go easier on me due to the white short-sleeved shirts that all students had to wear. Though because we were a clan that specialized in training in the martial-arts, a couple bruises here and there were seen as mere results of harsh training sessions, not harsh one-on-one beatings.

With a sigh, I pulled the black/grey long-and-baggy-sleeved shirt over my head. There were cuffs around my wrists that were lined in the middle with a red line that matched that on my skirt, and an over-the-shoulder sailor accessory was accented with the same red line. The front of my uniform had a red ribbon that was tied in a knot to keep the over-the-shoulder part of the uniform attached. All in all it kept my injuries well-hidden, and I grabbed my brown leather school bag and slipped on my brown slip-on shoes and dashed out the door, hoping not to run into my father in case the meeting ended early. I hurried down our front pathway, and continued my quick jogging/running pace all the way to school.

The sun was shining on this early February morning, and the air was very warm, though a nice cool breeze was steadily blowing by. On my way to school, I greeted our neighbors and the local shop owners with a smile and a polite "Good morning!" Which they all greeted with a smile of their own and a wave. When the high school was in sight, I slowed down my pace, eventually coming to a walking pace. I continued down the rest of the street leisurely, looking about me to see the flowers blooming and the trees budding. All around, the world was beginning anew, coming out of the winter even more lively and beautiful than before, and I was determined to be the same-I would start this new season in full stride and do even better in my studies and combat skills. Maybe I could even work on my social skills...

I quickly shook the thought out of my head. I had spent my whole life up til now being a wallflower, always there, but never noticed. There was little reason to believe that would change anytime soon. As I came to the gates of the school, I noticed the hustle-bustle of the countless students in the courtyard. Some were entering the school, mostly talking to their friends, while others lay about the courtyard goofing around or socializing with their groups of companions. I was one of the smaller crowd that walked straight into the school, though I knew that unlike me, the majority of those around me were just putting their stuff into their lockers so they could join their friends outside.

All of a sudden I pause on the dusty school pathway through the courtyard. My heart starts beating very quickly as I hear the voice of someone whose presence always leaves me breathless. Turning around, I see none other than Naruto Uzumaki being jeering at Kiba Inuzuka as the latter chases the former around the courtyard. The sun reflects off his golden hair perfectly, his vivid blue eyes as lively as ever. A small and content smile adorns my face as I gaze at him, a being far too amazing for words. It was only after I turn around that I take notice of the shouts that others are directing at my blonde wonder, and I suddenly realize they consist of "Look out!"s and "Hey idiot! Watch where you're going, you're going to hit-"s. Turning quickly I see a flash of yellow and a shimmer of white teeth as the grin is wiped clean from Naruto's face as he realizes he's going too fast to stop himself from running into me.

I flinch at the impact I make with the ground, the bruises on my back from being pushed around by my father reminding me of my place in this world. I suddenly remember where I am, and as I blink up at the body on top of me, I suddenly feel my face flush red. Naruto Uzumaki is laying on top of me. In the middle of the school's courtyard. In front of everyone. _OH MY GOOOOOSH. _I am merely thankful that my father has quite literally beaten my habit of fainting under pressure out of me, otherwise the situation would have likely become even more awkward.

The closed eyes of the blonde ball of energy on top of me suddenly fly open as he assess the current situation. Though he seems to be handling it more calmly than I am. He looks at me sort of quizzically, and then lays his hand on my forehead.

"Hey, Hinata, are you feeling alright? You look really hot, do you have a fever?"

I sigh deeply and smile up at his naivety. One of the many reasons I love him.

"Oh, n-no Naruto, I-I'm fine, thank you." I silently cheer myself on for stuttering less than usual-especially considering the current circumstances. Naruto seems content with my answer before seemingly fully-realizing the current position we're in. WIth a _yeep!_ he lept off me and started spluttering out apologies while offering me his hand to help me up. I simply giggle and take his hand and assure him that I am unhurt-although that is not entirely true. Some of my bruises have started reforming due to the hard impact, and I was sure a couple cuts were slightly opened again, but I had been worse. Naruto even offered to walk me to class to make up for running me over in the courtyard, though I assured him it was alright.

"Nonsense, you're my friend Hinata, and it would only be right of me to do so after trucking you over this morning." He said to me firmly, and with a foxy grin of his, he launched into a discussion about the stupidity of some of our teachers and some other topics of meager importance. I was still taken aback by his statement; he considered us friends? He didn't just think of me as that shy wallflower that was too quiet to be considered anyone's equal? I felt myself blush slightly, and decided right then and there to make sure he did not regret his friendship with me. I full-heartedly flung myself into the conversation, though it seemed my determinedness could not fully prevent the stutters that escaped throughout my talking, but still, I was happy. For the first time in a long while I felt...happy. My bruises were safely concealed from prying eyes under the sleeves of my uniform, and I was walking down the hallway talking to no one less than the bright-and-shining owner of my affections. I felt accepted, safe, on top of-well, definitely not the world. A small hill maybe? Yeah, that'll work. On top of a small hill. Nothing could shatter this moment, absolutely noth-

"Hey Sakura!" Whoop. Never mind.

With a somewhat hurt glance at Naruto for cutting me off while I was talking to him, I turned my attention to the pink-haired student just a couple yards ahead of us in the halls. Turning away from the group of friends she had been idly chatting with, Sakura Haruno-resident campus hottie and current holder of Naruto's affections, returned the greeting with a small wave in our direction. Seeming to forget my very existence, and his promise to walk me to class, Naruto ran up ahead to walk alongside Sakura and began talking with her. It seemed as though he was now walking her to our classroom, and though I was slightly consoled by the fact that I knew for a fact Sakura had no romantic feelings towards Naruto whatsoever, I still couldn't ignore the lonely feeling that was starting to ebb away at me.

As I watched the receding forms of my crush and my friend, I was once again reminded of my place in the world-and my bruises suddenly started throbbing as if to emphasize that fact. I, Hinata Hyuuga, am a wallflower, a quiet and shy nobody, who has no business associating with the normal people of society. Hanging my head and allowing my bangs to hide my eyes, I repressed the tears that I felt budding at the edge of my eyelids. Biting my lip, I slowly walked down the hallway and to my classroom.

I kept my head down as I maneuvered the crowded and bustling hallways of Konoha High School, every now and then being bumped to the side or stumbling as I was knocked over by people who were pushed by their friends or rushing to their classes. I had never felt more alone than when I was surrounded by people and _their _friends-not mine. I had acquaintances, I had classmates with whom I would share a small conversation with, but did I have any friends? Could I _ever_ have friends? I couldn't even get my own father to love me, so how could I ever manage to get strangers to even _like _me? It seemed hopeless, Hinata Hyuuga was certainly destined to a life of loneliness and hatred. It would seem as though I deserved it; everyone else seems to believes so. I could feel my world closing off around me. This is surely what I deserved, to spend the rest of my life shrouded in darkness...

"_**Nonsense, you're my friend Hinata!"**_ I looked up suddenly as the memory of Naruto's words rang through my head. My pale eyes were wide as I recalled how sincere he had been when he assured me that walking me to class was what friends do.

**What **_**friends**_ **do.**

I...I had a friend. I had someone who thought of me as a friend, and someone whom I wanted to get close to. I felt my small little world being filled with light, and at the center of that light was a boy named Naruto Uzumaki. Although moments ago I had thought it impossible, I felt a small smile light up my face, thoroughly beating back the darkness that had invaded my mind and heart. As I walked to class, all anyone would have see was a smile on my face; Hinata Hyuuga seemed entirely content with the world. I wasn't really; I still had my father, I had my impassive cousins, I had my stutter, but I had a friend as well.

'Naruto Uzumaki,' I thought fondly to myself, 'You have once again been my light, in my world of darkness...'


	3. Chapter 3

**Heeeeey that was a long hiatus. Well I do have finals going on right now so be thankful I've uploaded this at all much less finished this whopper. There is Hinata-abuse in this chapter but it is not because I dislike her, in fact she is one of my favorite characters. I just have a thing for martyrizing characters and that is also the whole basis for the story-nothing graphic like bloody excruciating detail or anything though.**

**TEN. PAGES. IN. WORD. *dies* well I like it a lot and I hope you think it was worth the wait. YES I HAVE A PLAN AND YES I WILL BE UPLOADING MORE FREQUENTLY I JUST HAVE HAD A LOT OF END-OF-THE-SCHOOL-YEAR HULLABULLOO STUFF. Thank you for reading and enjoy :)**

**~Warning, minor swearing and some of the other more severe swearing may not all have been starred out. They are just words written on paper though and not directed at any real people so I don't see the real harm in them but to each his own~**

**(ok seriously last thing) This starts out with 3RD PERSON POV just so you know ^^**

* * *

"You idiot!"

"Hey baby how's it goin?"

"Oh my gosh, so, like, then Andy _totally_ said that Mary-"

"Oh no you di'ant!"

"Can I copy your homework? I forgot to do it last night."

"Ugh can this day just be over already?"

"First period hasn't even started yet!"

"Sigh, troublesome."

"You know what I said to him then? Well I said-"

"Hahaha! Priceless! When do you think he'll notice?"

"Bark! Bark!"

The sea of mindless chatter that met Hinata's ears upon opening the door let her know that she had in fact entered the right room. She didn't even have to look around to know that the teacher hadn't arrived yet-if he had then all of **this **wouldn't be happening. Sighing to herself a little as she noticed Naruto sitting behind Sakura, chatting with the pink-haired high honors student, Hinata made her way to the back of the room to sit at her desk. Taking out her homework from the previous night, the navy-haired wallflower got to work checking and rechecking her already-flawless geometry homework. With another small sigh, she ditched the meaningless perfection process and took out some lined paper to doodle on. Only when she noticed a shadow looming over her did she bother to look up from her paper.

* * *

As Kiba was trying to hide Akamaru in his hood, telling him to please keep quiet and stop barking, he noticed his best friend, Shino, tilt his head and look over the dog-boy's shoulder. Curious as to what caught Shino's attention, Kiba turned from his current task to glance over behind him, and was very displeased at what he saw.

"Dammit, not these bozos again." Kiba growled. Turning to each other and each giving a quick nod of agreement, the two friends made their way over to a large group of people sitting in the middle-front of the class. The group of somewhat loud people they approached were sitting on desks, sitting in the chairs, or just standing around talking. There was a pink-haired girl with flashing green eyes hitting a blonde and blue-eyed boy over the head for being stupid, to the right of them there was a chicken-styled black-haired boy calmly leaning against a desk in the first row, seemingly doing his best to ignore his two loud friends. Just to the left of them there was a brown-pineapple-haired boy lounging in a seat in the second row, being pestered by a very pretty blonde girl with fierce blue eyes. After a moment the girl turned on the friend sitting in front of them, telling him that "If you don't stop eating all that junk food, you're never gonna be able to run that mile today in gym!" The orangey-brown haired male just shrugged and continued putting chips into his mouth, smiling at the wonderful barbeque flavor. Pineapple-boy let out a sigh and mumbled something along the lines of "troublesome" and appeared to just fall asleep. Finally there was a lone, and very pale, black haired boy sitting in second row to the right of the bickering pinkette and blonde teenagers. He was still clearly a part of the group, but seemed more focused on his painting than with socializing.

However everyone in the company stopped what they were doing to turn their attention to the approaching brunette boys, one with a dog stuffed into the hood of his jacket and the other wearing dark black sunglasses. Kiba spoke up first.

"Hey guys, we gotta problem here." He said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder to the back of the class. As everyone glanced around him, they took notice of a quiet girl sitting in the desk in the last row, looking up fearfully into the faces of three fairly good-sized boys.

"Oh great, not those idiots again! Can't they just leave her alone?" Exclaimed both the pretty blonde haired girl and the pink-haired girl. Turning to glare at each other for 'copying' the other, they suddenly started bickering, seemingly completely forgetting the issue at hand. Everyone in the vicinity sweatdropped with another sigh of "troublesome" emanating from the pineapple-headed boy's direction.

* * *

"So what does the great and powerful Hinata _Hyuuga _have to say for herself?" The largest boy asked, seemingly spitting out the last name. With three tall and intimidating boys in all, Hinata was more than ready to sink back into her seat and keep her mouth shut. And she did so up until the same teenager-whom she assumed was the leader-demanded and answer.

"I asked you a question!" He spat out.

Quivering in her seat, Hinata leaned forward a little and tried to ignore the pounding of her rabbit-paced heart.

"I-I don't kn-know w-what it is y-you're t-t-talking about!" She hurried the last word, trying her best to keep her embarrassing stutter from slipping past her shaking lips. Her response was certainly not what the boys had been expecting, and they seemed to grow annoyed with her ignorance.

"YOU KNOW GOSH DARN WELL WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, HYUUGA SL*T!" He shouted in her face, sending the poor confused girl into a hunched position, shaking like mad.

"N-no, please, I d-don't know wh-what you m-mean!" She cried desperately.

"It was your frickin father and his business that stripped and robbed _my _father of two/quarters of his land!"

Mentally simplifying his fraction to one/half, Hinata tried to figure out based on what he had said what it was that had occurred. She knew that the Hyuuga family _did _deal in a bit of real estate and lawsuits as well as martial arts, so what he said seemed to make some sense. And she did recall hearing about a Wonohoshigai man that had lost quite a bit of land to the Hyuugas for neglecting to pay his proper dues to the family for a contract or something-Hinata wasn't very clear on the details as a Hyuuga of her status was never bothered with being taught financing and real estate business. Although she did believe that someone had mentioned the man had been extremely rude and unprofessional in his dealings with them, so that sounded like the classmate before her. However, she doubted her father himself had dealt with that transaction, it had more likely been one of her two uncles. Either way, that land was her family's right, and for them to claim that they had 'robbed' it from them was an utter disgrace to the Hyuuga name. She felt that although she owed no allegiance to her father, if only for her uncles she should speak up. But the pretty little wallflower was called a wallflower for a reason, she was not used to speaking her mind or in passion-any time she ever had had been met with cruel and painful retribution. Thus she just sat there dumbly, looking up at the boy with wide eyes and a parted mouth, not having the courage to put him in his place.

"Quit gaping at me you little tramp! Bow your head in respect to the great Yubi Wonohoshigai!" The boy then put his hand on the back of her head and shoved her face down so that she was facing her desk. Hinata cried out a little in surprise at the action rather than in pain, but she nonetheless quietly congratulated herself as it was confirmed that the boy's father had indeed been of the Wonohoshigai family.

'_Great _deduction skills, Hinata. Now what?' She thought to herself sarcastically.

"Now apologize to Yubi for your family's foolishness and greed, Hyuuga!" One of Yubi's lackeys said. And although Hinata could hardly call herself a proud Hyuuga, every Hyuuga from a young age is imbued with _some _sort of pride for their family name, so what these fools were asking for was beyond disrespectful, especially given the actual greatness of the Hyuuga Clan's power. So she stayed quiet, though the boys would have none of that.

"SAY IT YOU DUMB DEAF B*TCH!" Yubi yelled with rage.

While one might think that the shy and quiet Hinata would have burst into tears or at least flinched at the slander and curses that were being thrown at her, to the surprise of everyone in the room who took notice, she didn't react at all. Her eyes didn't so much as twitch as the large and intimidating teenager demeaned and belittled her-though no one knew what it was she dealt with at home. She had experienced far worse, and it would take a lot more to break her, especially considering these boys were shrimp compared to what she normally fell prey to.

"N-no," the quiet little wallflower said. All the people who managed to hear her gaped, and the bullies looked ready to start swinging before another yell penetrated the silence.

"Oi! Leave her alone!" Everyone, including the bullies and Hinata, turned to the source of the voice. A bright blonde-haired boy was standing on top of the desk he had been sitting on, arms crossed as he addressed the three thugs with unabashed confidence.

"Who says?" Yubi retorted stupidly, snorting at the blonde who dared to challenge him.

The blonde and blue-eyed boy kept glaring at the three, then took out one of his hands and pointed his thumb at himself.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki! I'm gonna be the next Hokage, and you idiots need to leave Hinata alone!" He said, pointing his finger commandingly at the three boys. Thoroughly unimpressed, the boys burst into laughter at the thought of the class clown and local nincompoop becoming the next Hokage.

"Oh yeah? You and what army?" They jeered. Naruto continued to glare at the boys with a small pout appearing on his face, when suddenly a loud _wham _could be heard.

"OWWW! Sasuke-teme! What the hell is wrong with you!?" Naruto shouted turning to the black-and-spiky-haired boy who had just punched him over the head, his fist still raised up in the air, head tilted down in his normal I'm-too-cool-for-school attitude.

"Dobe, how many times have I told you how _stupid _you sound, why the hell do you go around shouting that stupid goal of yours left and right? No one even asked you," Sasuke said, clearly annoyed, before lifting his head to face the three idiots a couple yards in front of him.

"But you idiots really should stop picking on people who don't deserve it, it's really...irritating." The boy said coolly and calmly, pretending not to notice a certain pink-haired girl's head perk up as he said the last part.

"Pssht, yeah? You and what army?" The second of Yubi's lackeys said challengingly.

At this the black haired boy just smirked and slightly chuckled to himself. As he did this, everyone in the small little group got out of their seats-save the pineapple haired boy, he was dragged out of his seat with much tugging and yelling on the part of the blonde-haired girl. The pale and quiet boy too, just seemed to sit and continue painting, his raised eyebrows and quick surveyant glances the only signs that he knew what was going on around him. They all got up and stood tall and proud flanking Naruto and Sasuke, glaring quite a bit at Yubi and his lackeys. Hinata was shocked speechless, why were these people defending her? Yeah she had always wanted to be part of their little group, and she had always found them funny and nice, but she never thought any of them knew she existed.

But unbeknownst to Hinata, this ragtag bunch of loud teenagers actually considered her to be a very good person, and were not about to let anyone pick on the girl they affectionately referred to as the "class mouse". Now, even a bunch of complete morons-like Yubi and his gang-understood that they were outnumbered. But while his lackeys were smart enough to turn tail and run, Yubi just faced the group, as if challenging them to actually hit him.

"Pssht, you think I'm actually afraid of the pathetic little fox-faced Hokage-wannabe? YEAH RIGHT! You're an idiot, Uzumaki, if you think that I'm gonna let you intimidate me! I'd like to see yah-oof!" Yubi's little rant was interrupted by a punch to the gut, courtesy of the same fox-faced blonde. Not one to be easily defeated, the great lug threw the next punch, and before anyone could blink twice the two were in an all out street brawl.

While some students seemed worried, most of the teenagers from the little group went back to their seats-completely uninterested, while the pink and black haired teens sweatdropped. Hinata, however, seemed genuinely concerned for Naruto's safety, and was debating whether or not she should speak up when the teacher suddenly walked in and saved her the trouble. And by 'walk in', I mean he ninja'd into the room and gripped both of the boys' fists into his hands before anyone could even blink. Everyone pretty much gaped-except for Sasuke and pineapple-boy, who just looked mildly surprised and raised their eyebrows; and the other black-haired boy who took less than five seconds to glance up from his painting before focusing back on his paint strokes.

The grey-haired teacher; whose whole face below the eyes was hidden behind a black doctor's mask, seemed to be fixing each boy with a hard black-eyes glare that showed he meant business.

"There will be no roughhousing allowed in my classroom," he started off in a stern and commanding voice. And in the next second his one visible eyes closed as he seemed to have a pleasant smile underneath the mask.

"Ok?" the strange teacher said, voice suddenly becoming very calm and light. He then let go of the boys' fists and both returned to their seats. The rest of the students, too, seemed to have suddenly decided to pay attention and sat straight facing the front of the classroom.

"Alright now, good morning class." The man said from behind an orange-colored book he seemed to have pulled out of nowhere.

"Good morning Kakashi-sensei." They all replied in unison. And with that, they began their lesson. (Although no one bothered to mention that, as usual, they were starting about 20 minutes after the 1 hour class period should have started.)

* * *

As the bell rang for the end of third period and the beginning of the 15 minute break, all the students bolted out of the door and into the bright sunny courtyard. After quickly and quietly packing up her things into her bookbag, Hinata took her book bag into her hand and joined the crowd on their desperate way out of the stuffy school building. Narrowly avoiding the many elbows that tried their best to jam into her sides, Hinata sped up her pace and ran to hide behind the large oak tree that had come to be her favorite place to stay during the students' short break.

With a sigh of relief at having avoided being knocked around by some of her more violent classmates, Hinata plopped down onto the grass and leaned her back against the tree, allowing the rustling of the leaves to lull her into a peaceful state of mind. Suddenly she heard the leaves start to rustle more fervently, causing her eyes to pop open as she felt a presence above her, scuttling along the branches.

"OI! GRANDMA TSUNADE, I NEED TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THAT WHOLE SUSPENSION THING!" The loud and ringing voice of Naruto boomed as he hung upside down, his face not 3 inches from Hinata's. Opening one of his bright blue eyes, Naruto seemed mildly surprised as he realized that the female he had been shouting at was, in fact, not the certain blonde-haired principle he had thought he was talking to.

"Hey," he said, bringing his hand to rest on his chin in an upside down expression of concentration, "You're not Grandma Tsunade." Had Hinata not been busy blushing at the close proximity, she may have sweat-dropped at the bright-eyed blonde's all-too-obvious statement. It was then that Naruto seemed to take notice of Hinata's insanely-red face, and he once again brought his hand up to feel her forehead.

"Hey, Hinata, you sure you don't have a fever or something? Your face has gone all red again,"

**Hinata's POV**

Ok now Hinata, calm down. You are just 3 inches away from Naruto's face. Naruto; the boy you have an insane crush on. Naruto; the boy whose lips are within kissing distance. Whose lips are close enough that he could just lean in a few inches and take your first kiss and you take his first kiss and you'd stay kissing for a moment or maybe an hour or maybe a ohmygosh why am I thinking like this oh no oh no this is not good now I'm getting bad thoughts and overexcited and my face is probably red as a tomato and Naruto looks really cute in this lighting and I could just-

**Normal POV**

Hinata let out a loud scream as she flung her head forward in embarrassment and struck Naruto's forehead, sending the poor boy flying a good 10 yards away crying out in confusion. Having knocked herself hard enough to concuss an elephant, Hinata wavered back and forth, her eyes practically swirly as she lost balance and fainted leaning against the tree. All the poor body of what had once been Naruto could do was lie down on the ground, a large red bruise decorating his forehead as he lay there with eyes like big white circles.

* * *

It was at this exact moment that a dog lover and the neighborhood bug lover came along to enjoy the scenery-and avoid the migraine-inducing screeching of the Team Taka hall monitors. Seeming to take notice of the unconscious pair, Kiba proceeded to freak out, and his reaction went something like this:

"Oh my gosh! Hinata! Naruto! What the-?! How did you-?! How did they-?! I gotta get Principal Tsunade, that bruise on Naruto looks really bad, and I think Hinata may have a concussion!" Frantically pacing about in every which way for a moment, Kiba proceeded to take off running to fetch the school principal-and-head-nurse, Tsunade. Shino had remained completely unmoving for the whole ordeal, and when the boisterous brunette had left, he directed his attention to the two unconscious teenagers before him.

With a shrug, the boy pulled out a camera he happened to have in his pocket.

"Blackmail material." And with that, the mysterious boy went on snapping multiple photos at every possible angle.

* * *

"_Oh no, oh no, please, please tell me it isn't anything serious..." _The poor stressed Hinata Hyuuga thought to herself as Principal Tsunade took a look at her head and shone a bright light into her eye to check for brain damage.

"Well on the bright side," The large-erm, _chested_-lady said while handing her flashlight to her assistant, Shizune. "No signs of a concussion, though I'm sort of surprised considering that hard head of his," This last part was mumbled as she took a sideways half-glare at the blonde whiskered boy sitting behind her.

Hinata couldn't help but giggle at the characteristic "Hey!" the loud rambunctious boy exclaimed as he glared back at the hazel-eyed woman. However her attention was immediately grabbed when the woman before her turned back to Hinata with a sigh.

"Buuut, that was still some impact. I'm afraid you'll be sporting that nasty bruise for awhile."

Gulping, Hinata hoped against all hopes that by "awhile" the nurse meant "a couple hours".

"H-how long is 'awhile', exactly?" She asked as politely as she could, her soft voice masking the strangled sound to it.

"I'd say about a day or two, but if you keep this icepack taped on it all day and hold a wet washcloth over it into the night, it should be gone by tomorrow morning." Tsunade said offhandedly as she flipped through some papers to mark Hinata's visit to the nurse's office.

"_T-that's what I was a-afraid of..."_ the navy-haired girl thought dejectedly as she felt her head droop. Naruto's face seemed to perk up as he took notice of Hinata's suddenly dark mood, and he leapt up from his seat and walked over to her, bending over to make eye-contact with the sitting girl.

"Aw, don't worry about it, Hinata. It doesn't look that bad! Hey, if you keep your bangs down, you can barely see it!" The blonde said kindly as he patted her bangs out of disarray.

"Psht, easy for you to say numbskull, it's your fault she has that bruise in the first place." Tsunade mumbled with an irritated look in the idiot-boy's direction.

A vein could be seen popping on Naruto's forehead as he spun around to shout at the lady. While he did so, Hinata felt a light blush on her cheek as she thought about Naruto's kindness. Her face lit up in the tiniest of smiles as she held her hand to her pink-blushing cheek.

"_Even though he has no idea why I'm so nervous about this bruise, it's still so...sweet of him to be like that. Especially towards someone like me..."_ Her thoughts were interrupted by the call of that same blue-eyed angel,

"Oi! Hinata, wanna walk back to class? It's the least I could do after, er, well, that." Naruto trailed off self consciously, his hand reaching back to the back of his head. Although slightly chagrined at the memory of the last time Naruto promised to walk her to class, Hinata nonetheless put on a small smile and gave a swift nod of appreciation. The two walked back to class together, all the time not noticing the sly grin and eyebrow raise of the blonde principal as the two walked out the door together.

* * *

"Alright Hinata! See ya tomorrow!" Naruto called out unabashedly while waving his whole arm in the air. The rest of his group was already walking off without him, and he had to turn around and sprint a little bit to catch up, cursing at them for not waiting. Some of the others also turned around slightly to give small waves or smiles of goodbye at the lone girl standing in front of the school gates. Hinata had to walk in the complete opposite direction of everyone else she knew, had her house not been that way she would have gladly tagged along with the kind group of friends. However this was not the case, and with a small sigh, Hinata felt herself give a small hunch as she made her way back to the Hyuuga complex. Neji was not with her as he always had Kendo Club right after school, and Hanabi was still at the middle school which did not get out until about an hour later, and even then the young girl still had another hour of Karate Club. Both her cousins were captains or co-captains of their teams, and Hanabi was only a co-captain because the middle school didn't allow 6th graders become captains. With another sigh, Hinata made her way through the wooden gates of the large Hyuuga complex, quickly remembering to rip the ice pack from her forehead lest her father see it. As she opened the rice-paper door to her home, she slipped off her shoes and long-sleeved uniform top and took her backpack into the large room designated the "homework room" for her and her prodigy cousins. She had just opened her World Studies book when a booming voice penetrated the air within the small main mansion inhabited by only her and her father.

"HINATA! WHEN DID YOU GET HOME FROM SCHOOL?!" The piercing voice of the cruelest Hyuuga rang in her ears, dazing Hinata momentarily.

"I-I j-just g-got h-home a m-moment ago!" She called out as clearly as she could, though the adrenaline of fear coursing through her body caused her stutter to kick in. Within seconds the door adjoining the living room parlor to the homework room was slammed open, causing the meek Hyuuga to jump. Taking note of the strong scent of alcohol emanating from the room behind her father's huge form, Hinata mentally prepared herself for a terribly rough beating, nothing got her father more riled up than his sake.

"AND WOULD YOU QUIT IT WITH THAT DAMN STUTTER?! IT'S SO FREAKIN ANNOYING!" The man shouted at the top of his lungs, sending the small pale-eyed girl's hands flying up to her ears.

"P-please father, n-not so loud!" She begged as politely and calmly as she could, though it was obviously not enough as the man's face contorted into the image of pure rage.

"AND WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TELLING ME, THE GREAT HEAD OF THE HYUUGA FAMILY WHAT TO DO?!" The man yelled as he stomped over the the crouching figure of his only daughter. Reaching down as if to pull her up by the back of her shirt as he had done this morning, she continued to shout in her face.

"HAH! BUT LIKE THAT MEANS ANYTHING! I STILL GOT STUCK WITH A WORTHLESS CLUMSY OAF WHILE MY TWO YOUNGER BROTHERS HIT JACKPOT WITH THEM FREAKIN BRANCH-FAMILY PRODIGIES!" Hinata winced at this-"branch family" was an extremely disrespectful way to refer to those whose lineage came from the second sons in the family. Just as he seemed ready to haul her up, the man paused in his ranting, as did his arm in its reach, when he noticed the astray bangs on his daughter's forehead. Seeming ready to blow, the man took a deep breath and asked in a voice that was so deceivingly calm it was terrifying.

"Hinata, what is that under your hair?"

"W-what father?"

"YOU HEARD ME! NOW SHOW ME WHAT'S UNDER THOSE BANGS OF YOURS!"

With trembling hands, Hinata reached up to part the short navy locks from in front of her forehead. The man's expression remained unchanged as he took in the sight of her forehead. The injury itself was not all as severe as it looked, it barely hurt to touch it, and Hinata's skin bruised easily. Still, those facts did not calm the mammoth man as he regarded the purple bruise with flecks of yellowing hues around the edges with utter rage, and brought his hand to grab her by the top of her head. Crying out in pain, Hinata thrashed around in discomfort as he held her up above the ground, that is until he yelled at her to stop squirming.

"HOW THE HECK DID YOU GET THIS BRUISE!?"

"A-a b-boy hit me," she mumbled, quaking in the wake of her behemothian father.

"WELL DID YOU HIT HIM BACK?!"

"N-no! O-of course not!" She cried out, startled at the very idea of hitting Naruto.

"AND WHY THE F*CK NOT?!"

"F-father! Please, i-it was j-just an accident!" She pleaded desperately.

"I WILL NOT HAVE MY REJECT OF A DAUGHTER GO AROUND TAKING HITS OFF OF PEOPLE WITHOUT GETTING ANOTHER ONE IN BACK! IT IS A DISGRACE TO MY NAME! A DISGRACE TO THE HYUUGA NAME YOU WORTHLESS HUNK OF FLESH!" He cried, dropping the girl roughly as he sent a powerful punch directly to her stomach, effectively knocking the wind out of her and causing her to hunch forward on the ground. But he was not done yet. He aimed a strong kick directly at her side, sending her tumbling over and rolling until she hit the opposite wall. Groaning in pain, the timid girl tried her best to get to her feet, but the man continued to punch and beat her until she could hardly move without wincing. Eventually she just gave up and sent herself into lockdown mode, a blank expression decorated her face as her body continued to be racked by the painful blows. When he finally stopped he flung his bottle at the wall above her, Hinata barely fast enough to raise her arms protectively over her head as the glass rained down on her. Cussing again at his worthless daughter, Hinata's father finally left the room, and the house, the door shutting with a sharp crack as he went off to handle some business or training somewhere else.

Bringing her back to rest at her sides, Hinata lay there for what felt like hours, but was actually minutes as her half lidded eyes fell over what she could see of her body as she lay there. The undersides of her forearms were decorated in more bruises, the ones that had been healing now sent ablaze with fresh color. Tilting her head as slowly and in as small a motion as possible, the lavender-eyed teen took note of the state of her legs, which had been generally spared from the onslaught. Being as gentle as possible so as not to cut herself on any of the glass that surrounded her on the floor, Hinata sat herself up and started to wobble her way down the hallway to her room. She knew that, despite the pain, she would have to treat her wounds and cover up before her cousins got home. The small mansion she shared with her father was connected in many places to the mansion that housed her two uncles and two cousins, and they were known to pop in and out to work on homework or to use the dojo that was adjoined to their section of the complex.

* * *

It took Hinata no less than 45 minutes to wash down the bruises, comb the glass fragments out of her hair, and wash out the cuts she had received from the broken bottle. Covering herself up in a sweater and knee-length pants, she made her way steadily back down to the homework room, trying her best not to limp from the pain she felt in her back and on her stomach. As she entered, she noticed Hanabi already sitting down across from where Hinata had set up her stuff, and her youngest cousin was working diligently, sparing only a fleeting glance in her direction as she entered the room.

"Why have you not started your homework, although it has been a little over an hour since you got home?" She inquired curtly.

Flinching slightly at the cool tone coming from the girl she considered a younger sister, Hinata replied as smoothly as she could.

"I-I spent the last t-training in the dojo, I j-just got back f-from washing up. Wh-why are you home so early H-Hanabi?"

"Karate club was cancelled today because of some band performance going on tonight. But why would you have been in the dojo if your World Studies book is open?"

Glancing over at her textbook that had remained open since her recent beating, Hinata could not help but admire her cousin's observation skills as she cursed them for making lying all the more difficult.

"And why is there glass all over the floor over here?" Hanabi continued, a small smug smirk lighting up her face. "Did you trip once again over your two left feet and drop something?"

Ignoring the cruel look of enjoyment on Hanabi's face, Hinata jumped at the change in topic.

"Ah, y-yes, I was g-getting rid of that b-bottle when I t-tripped and dropped it. I just came back from cleaning the cuts I received."

Sitting down quickly as she opened her book to the appropriate page, Hinata appeared to focus intently on her work.

"N-now, if you'll excuse me, I-I have a l-lot of homework to do." Unable to interrogate her older cousin any further, Hanabi dropped the topic and simply shrugged as she drew her attention back to her own homework.

With a mental sigh of relief, Hinata got to work on her homework, which ended up taking no more than two hours to complete. Neji got home eventually, asked what all the glass on the floor was about, and then called in a maid to clean it up before he got to work on his work for the night. The whole family had dinner together-that is, the three Hyuuga Clan leaders and their three children. The meal passed by quietly as usual, the only conversation being between the three adults and a stray question here or there directed at the children. All in all, nothing seemed wrong that night.

* * *

**Hinata's POV**

Lying down into the plush comforter on my bed, I gazed at my room lit up dimly by the moonlight streaming in from the window beside my bed. As a I turned over with my back to the window, I took notice of my arms laying next to me. They were still bearing the horrible marks from earlier, and I had wrapped them up in cool cloths when I was alone, but for the night I decided to leave them off. Staring at them with my half-lidded eyes, I tried my best to ignore the depressing feelings that tried to creep up inside of me.

No. No I would not let myself get upset, not tonight. Not when I had had an amazing day with Naruto. Not tonight. Please, not tonight.

My eyelids felt heavier and heavier as I grew more tired, still desperately searching for some cheerful thought to send me into a blissful slumber. My droopy eyes darting wildly around the room, my lavender irises found the framed image of my mother, resting on the nightstand not a foot from the edge of my bed. Her navy-purple hair was parted down the middle, with her long bangs hanging off on either side of her kind smiling face. She was holding me as a baby, and she was smiling in complete and utter joy at holding my tiny laughing form. I loved her, I loved her so much...

**Normal POV**

And with tender thoughts of her gentle and loving mother, Hinata drifted off into a blissful sleep. Her dreams lit up by her mother's warm embrace and the kind words that she used to whisper in her ear when she was little and couldn't fall asleep.

* * *

**=Yeah I love making Kiba the frantic and caring type of guy, I find it so amusing. And yes Akamaru is tiny because he was just so cute as a tiny widdle puppy. If you notice any other changes I have yet to explain feel free to ask ^^**


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